Gambia, The
The Gambia gained its independence from the UK in 1965; it formed a short-lived federation of Senegambia with Senegal between 1982 and 1989. In 1991 the two nations signed a friendship and cooperation treaty. A military coup in 1994 overthrew the president and banned political activity, but a new 1996 constitution and presidential elections, followed by parliamentary balloting in 1997, completed a nominal return to civilian rule.
A long run of stability has not translated into prosperity: the poor nature of the country's small amount of arable soil has left The Gambia heavily dependent on peanut exports. In 2004, however, President Jammeh announced that large reserves of oil had been discovered, noting that this could mean a "new future" for his country. Tourism remains an important source of foreign exchange, as are remittances from Gambians living abroad.
There is no specific threat to foreigners traveling to or residing in The Gambia, one of Africa's smallest countries that in contrast to many of its West African neighbors, has enjoyed lengthy spells of stability since independence.
Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh seized power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army lieutenant, and was elected president in the September 1996 elections in a vote that was fraught with irregularities. Jammeh survived an apparent January 2000 military coup and in October 2001 was re-elected. Just after the vote, Commonwealth foreign observers gave the poll a clean bill of health, but since then diplomats and opposition members have been less positive.
Jammeh's efforts in the late 1990's to shed his image as a military strongman and remake himself into a civilian leader brought him some international credibility and the return of foreign aid that had been cut off during the earlier years of his dictatorship. However, following the 2001 elections, a wave of arrests indicated that President Jammeh's government was reverting to its old repressive ways.
